Every activity we perform, whether on the playing field or during everyday activities, require individuals to react and generate force quickly to certain demands place on our structure. It is critical that individuals are trained at speeds that are functionally applicable to everyday life and sport, decreasing the risk of injury and enhancing overall performance.

Power training is on the opposite side of the spectrum of endurance training.

Endurance training involves improving your ability to perform a physical activity for a prolonged period of time, whereas power training optimizes your ability to use explosive force over a shorter period of time.

Knowing your fitness goals will help you determine how to incorporate power into your training regimen.

The physiology of power

Muscular power generation relies primarily on type II muscle fibers, which specialize in anaerobic power generation. This process depends on ATP, the cell’s most basic form of energy. As the ATP is depleted, creatine stores help produce more. Since creatine stores are limited (approximately 100 contractions) power can only be sustained for a limited time. But there are ways that you can train to improve your muscular power, delay fatigue and improve recovery.

Training for power

Being strong does not always translate to being powerful. For example, a strong lower body can do a heavy squat slowly, but it can't necessarily generate the power to do the same lift with speed.

Power is explosiveness.

Power training can take many forms depending on the goals of the individual and the demands of the sport. Here are some basic guidelines for power training:

Move loads at a high velocity

Use lighter weights at higher reps. For example, 25% of your 1RM in a bench press in a higher rep range (8-16).

Eating for Power

You can improve your power performance through the food that you eat. In fact, it is incredibly important to provide your body with adequate nutrition relative to your training intentions.

Eating foods that support a healthy nervous system is important, since the speed of nerve communication between your brain and muscles facilitates power performance. Foods that contain B6, B12 and folate assist nerve metabolism.

The fabric convert the harnessed energy, along with latent energy from surroundings into Far Infrared Radiation (FIR)

FIR penetrates deep into muscle tissue with the following effects:

Increased blood circulation

Increased oxygen delivery to the muscles

Increased nutrient levels and ATP production

Faster lactic acid breakdown

The result is greater muscular power, less fatigue and faster repair during and after workouts.

Final thoughts

Power isn’t something that is specific to Olympic or CrossFit athletes. Everyone at any age can benefit from improved power performance.

Yes, it is important to train for strength, and sometimes endurance. But training for power will give you the ability to lift loads (including your own body) at a greater speed, which is important in everyday activities.

For example, if you trip you need to be able to use your muscles to react quickly to protect yourself. Or you may need to cross a road quickly before the light turns red. Even getting up from a chair or stooping down to pick something up requires muscular power.

It’s especially true as we age, power diminishes even more quickly than strength.

Training for power will help you preserve muscle and bone density. So, include some element of power training in your workout regimen and you’ll see both short and long-term benefits.

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Author

This article was written by Tim Powell, fitness blogger for Shrinkinguy.com. He promotes tips for eating well, exercise and healthy living.